


Cheers To That

by wotcherpotter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Jily Challenge, Marauders' Era, VERY minor wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 07:24:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12185553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wotcherpotter/pseuds/wotcherpotter
Summary: Breakout star James Potter has seen success on the new hit comedy Have You Ever, and has been nominated for his first BAFTA. Upon the announcement he receives congratulations aplenty online, including from fellow actor and long time crush Lily Evans.





	Cheers To That

**Author's Note:**

> Written for September Jily Challange! I deviated a little from the prompt I was given but the general gist of it is the same. 
> 
> Prompt: Lily and James have been flirting back and forth on the internet for some time. Their Youtube following is all a flutter for the chemistry between them. It's only when they finally meet in person at vidcon when Lily realizes that internet banter and back and forth jokes in their videos can translate into something real…

“Fuck,” James said to himself.

He had just sat down after a long day on set, and it was just his luck that he would spill the Thai green curry he’d picked up on the way home all over his lap.

“Been eating long?” Sirius said with a smirk.

He threw a cloth from the sink onto James’s lap as he walked through the kitchen to pick up his own dinner of pad Thai.

“Cheers,” said James.

He tried to mop up the spill and salvage what he could from his dinner. Unfortunately his pants were ruined, which meant he’d have to shower before he could enjoy the meal he’d been craving all day. His feet were aching in protest of their interrupted relaxation; he rushed his shower to placate them. His hair was still damp and dripping down the back of his t-shirt when he joined Sirius again in the lounge, this time on an armchair instead of his original, curry-stained spot on the lounge.

“Anything good on?” James said.

“It’s Tuesday night.”

“Our show’s on Tuesday nights.”

“We’re in production at the moment.”

“Oh. Too right.”

Sirius snorted. There was a knock at the door, and he took a break from channel surfing to answer it. James didn’t hear anything by way of conversation before Remus stormed into the living room and shoved a phone screen into his face.

“James you’ve got to see this,” he said.

“What’s going on?” Sirius said, annoyed that he had been ignored and now wasn’t being included.

James took the phone that had been thrust into his face and adjusted his glasses so that he could see.

“What am I looking at?”

“You’ve been nominated for a BAFTA!”

“You’re pulling my fucking leg.”

“I’m not, honest, they’ve just been announced. Look,” Remus took the phone back and tapped on the screen.

When he pushed it back under James’s nose he could see his name in bold, nominated for ‘Male Performance in a Comedy Program’, in the same category as Ricky Gervais. Ricky fucking Gervais.

“Holy shit.”

“Lily Evans was nominated too,” Sirius said from behind him, as he scrolled through his own phone.

“Well, of course, she’s brilliant,” James said.

He was still scrolling through Remus’s phone and looking through all the other nominees.

“That means you’ll both be at the awards night,” Sirius explained.

James choked on the mouthful of curry he’d just spooned into his mouth. Remus took his phone back and slipped it into his back pocket without even attempting to contain his laughter. Sirius rapped him on the back a couple of times to help but it did more harm than good. He’d probably have a bruise in the morning.

“Not having much luck tonight, are ya mate?” Sirius said, grinning as he managed to stop laughing.

“Drop his dinner on his lap again?”

“Yep.”

“If you’re quite finished,” James interrupted.

“Don’t get all diva on us now that you’re a star,” Sirius said, teasing.

James gave up on conversing with his best friends and settled into the comfort of a _Great British Bake Off_ re-run to finish his dinner. He picked up his own phone from the coffee table and opened the twitter app.

_@JamesPotter: Just heard I’ve been nominated for a BAFTA? Fucking wicked!!_

He set it aside on the arm of the chair he was sat on in order to finish his dinner before it was completely cold. By now, Sirius and Remus were both sat watching the TV with him and engrossed in the episode. James had just finished his last mouthful when his screen lit up and caught his attention.

_@LilyEvans replied to your tweet: congrats!! Well deserved that is_

James thought he must be dreaming. He dropped his takeaway container for the second time that night.

Remus looked up at the noise. “Are you having a stroke?”

James was opening and closing his mouth looking like a goldfish impressionist. His phone was still lit up beside him. Sirius picked it up and read off the screen out loud.

“At Lily Evans replied to your tweet: congrats you deserve it,” Sirius looked up to speak to Remus. “Well that explains it: he’s gone into shock.”

“Well respond!” Remus urged.

But James still couldn’t do anything aside from open and close his mouth, let alone form coherent enough thoughts to reply to the love of his life.

“I’ll do it,” Sirius said and he began typing a response. “My dearest future wife, Lily, you humble me so. Let me count the ways you-”

James yanked his phone back from his traitorous friend.

“At least we know he’s not got brain damage,” Remus said.

“I wouldn’t be so quick to assume.”

“Ha. Ha ha ha. You’re dead witty Sirius.”

“I assumed that’s why you kept me around.”

“No, that’s Remus.”

“Shut up, will you? I want to hear who wins this challenge, I never watched this season.”

James and Sirius looked at each other, and then looked at Remus before saying in unison, “It’s Ben.”

* * *

 

It wasn’t until he was in bed later that night that James had a moment to himself to process everything. He’d been nominated for a BAFTA! _And_ On his first proper acting gig. _AND_ Lily Evans had tweeted him. This was definitely a contender for best night of his life.

The light from his phone illuminated his face as he scrolled through his timeline one last time to wind down before sleeping. He still hadn’t been able to come up with a clever enough response to reply to Lily. It had to be perfect. A notification popped up at the bottom of his screen.

_@SiriuslyBlack: someone went and nominated @JamesPotter for a BAFTA and his head’s grown three times as large #NeedABiggerDoor_

James rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his face. This was as close as he would get to Sirius publicly congratulating him. He couldn’t think of anything poetic to say back so he just wrote ‘twat’ and was about to move on when one of the other replies caught his eye.

_@LilyEvans: can’t pull shirts over a head that big, now he’ll be walking around topless_

James was about to have a conniption. The telepathic connection he and Sirius had tried to form when they were younger must have started to work, since his contact picture flashed up on James’s screen. He clicked answer on autopilot.

“Two in one night?” came Sirius through the speaker.

“What the fuck do I say?”

“You know, I thought you were going crazy the other day when you mentioned it, but I really think she’s flirting.”

“Sirius, I don’t know how to flirt back, I’m romantically challenged.”

“At least you’re self aware.”

“Fuck off.”

James hung up and was confronted again with the tweet in question. He typed out a reply hesitantly, and pressed tweet with his eyes closed before he could change his mind.

_@JamesPotter: stop objectifying me Evans #SheOnlyWantsMeForMyBody_

He put his phone on charge and rolled over to sleep before he could think of all the ways that each word was precisely the wrong one to use.

* * *

 

It was raining the next afternoon, as was the standard in London, but it meant they’d had to pause filming the scene they were working on until the shower stopped. James had taken advantage of the break ducked across the street with Remus to grab some Subway for lunch. He had been craving a meatball sub since he smelled the bread baking that morning.

They sat down at one of the booths at the back of the shop, on the off chance that someone who recognised them would interrupt. He had been nominated for a BAFTA, but he knew he was barely a household name - and even that was probably generous - but he’d rather be safe than sorry. His phone buzzed in his pocket, with a message from Sirius.

_Sirius Black: where did you disappear to - i’m trapped with poppy in the catering tent_

A picture was attached of Sirius sat by himself pouting and Poppy - an overly enthusiastic intern from a nearby university - was beside him with her mouth open and no doubt talking a mile a minute. James slid his phone across the table to Remus so they could snigger about it.

“Let him suffer,” Remus said, sliding the phone back.

James raised an eyebrow. “Trouble in paradise?”

“It’s just fun to watch him suffer sometimes, you know?”

“That I do.”

James ignored Sirius’s message and opened twitter. Again. He was slightly addicted but so was everyone else, so he could hardly find the time to care. He went to Lily’s profile - no new tweets since the night before. He had second guessed himself all morning about his reply and was thankful for the distraction of his job. He sighed, and resigned himself to tweeting some lame update about his life.

_@JamesPotter: shoutout to subway for sponsoring @HaveYouHeardUK season 2_

When he put his phone back on the table it buzzed again almost instantly.

_@LilyEvans: love a good footlong myself_

James did a spit take. And not a spit take in the hilarious way they do on TV, but in the disgusting way that meatball and bread went flying to the other side of the restaurant yet still managed to get stuck in his throat. Marlene was going to kill him when he got back to set, he should have changed before he left.

“What? James, what is it?”

Somehow, he managed to slide his phone across the table to Remus again. While he cleared his airways with water, Remus read the interaction that had caused him so much distress.

“Really, James, you’re so dramatic. I s’pose that’s why you became an actor but still; don’t you ever get tired of it?”

“You and Sirius are practically married. Married. Sirius.”

“I - well, that’s different.”

“Different how?”

“He doesn’t spit meatballs in my hair.”

“You’re so vain. What do I say back to her?”

“Now who’s vain?”

James huffed in frustration. He stared at his screen hoping the answer would jump out at him. The only thing he could think of was ‘you know where to get one’ but that sounded too seedy-old-man-in-dark-alley and not enough alluring-and-charming-man-of-her-dreams. He couldn’t think of anything witty or charming to respond with. What did you say to a girl who wanted a footlong that was so clearly an innuendo for his dick that you’d never met before but had been in love with for three years? The scenario was too specific for him to submit to WikiAnswers for help.

His phone buzzed again, still in his hand.

_@SubwayUK: @LilyEvans @JamesPotter we can cater to you both ;)_

James, stupidly, replied with the first thing that came to mind.

_@JamesPotter: @LilyEvans @SubwayUK ménage à trois ?_

Back on set, Sirius had laughed at him until he was blue in the face. And when he had sucked enough air back into his lungs he did it again. It was one of the only times in James’s life that he had blushed hard enough to see it underneath his dark skin. One of the only privileges of his Indian parents (the other was Jalebi). When James had finally worked up the courage to look at his phone again, he’d seen the notification of Lily liking his tweet. So it wasn’t all bad.

* * *

He was sat in wardrobe a couple of days later, being fitted in silence - Marlene was still mad about the meatball spit take.

“Marly, come on, I’ve had punishment enough.”

A wicked grin spread across Marlene’s face. James grew nervous.

“Oh James. James, James, James.”

“Er - is this like one of those bits in a movie where you turn into an evil hag?”

“What the fuck? No. What movies are you watching?”

James opened his mouth to reply but she cut him off.

“This is the part in the movie where I become your fairy godmother.”

“What, like _Cinderella_?”

“Yes, like _Cinderella_.”

James felt like a giant question mark was floating above his head. He opened his mouth to ask what that entailed, but she held her hand up to his mouth and shushed him.

“Patience, young padawan. All will be revealed in due time.”

“That’s a completely different movie!”

* * *

 

The second James stepped on set, Sirius was in his face with his phone.

“Mate I’m happy to see you too, but can you give me some space?”

“Have you seen this?”

James focused his eyes on the tiny screen in Sirius’s hand to see an article from a tabloid site.

**JAMES POTTER AND LILY EVANS: BAFTA BANTER BLOWS BRAINS BEYOND**

He knew tabloid sites were a crock of shit, but at least they used to try. He didn’t even get to enjoy his rumoured romance. What should have put him in a good mood had turned it sour.

“You showed me this because you knew it would annoy me and not because it’s about me and Lily?”

“Spot on.”

“Remus has the patience of a saint.”

“That he does.”

“James! Sirius! If you’re done flirting, we’ve got a whole scene to finish in six hours,” the director, Frank, yelled through a large megaphone.

James stayed in character for the full six hours they had. He was amazed at just how great he was at his job sometimes. He didn’t mean to be an arrogant prat - no one who surrounded him would give him the opportunity to be - but he was quite fantastic at his job. He had been nominated for a BAFTA, after all. Frank was chuffed as well, because that meant they were now ahead of schedule on the filming for the second season.

When filming wrapped that night, James made his way down to wardrobe to change out of his costume and back into his own clothes. He was greeted by Marlene, who handed him his own jeans and tee back to him while he got changed behind a makeshift partition.

“Hey, Marls, I just remembered. Can you style me for this BAFTAs shindig?”

“Gotta get in quicker than that, Potter, I’m already booked.”

“Already booked? By who? As if they’re more important than me.”

“They _happen_ to be my best friend which _you_ are not.”

“I’ve never once heard you talk about this best friend.”

“That’s why you’re not my best friend.”

James, fully dressed in his own clothing now, stepped out from behind the partition with his character clothes in the labelled bag.

“Who is it, then?”

“Lily Evans.”

“Yeah right. You’re hilarious Marls, missed your calling as a comedian.”

“I’m serious!”

“No, that’s my name.”

Sirius walked into wardrobe in his costume. Marlene had his own clothes ready for him, and he stepped behind the partition the same as James had to get changed.

“Your worst joke. How many times do Remus and I have to tell you, that’s your worst joke.”

“What are you so serious about McKinnon?”

“She says Lily Evans is her best friend.”

Sirius - sans-pants - stepped out from behind the partition shaking with laughter.

“That is fucking brilliant.”

“I’ll call her right now and prove it to you. But mainly because I want to see your face when I’m right, and not because I actually care about proving it.”

Marlene pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans and tapped a few buttons until it started to ring. James and Sirius were silent whilst they listened. James was shitting bricks, to put it eloquently. The ringing stopped. Crackling came through the speaker of Marlene’s phone, and then:

“Hey Marly, are you on your way over now? I ordered a margherita and a Hawaiian - even though pineapple on pizza is foul - and they should be here in 20.”

That was Lily fucking Evans’s voice. James couldn’t feel his feet.

“Just grabbing my things now. I want to chat BAFTA ideas with you tonight too, I‘ll see you soon.”

“Fantastic, love yoooooooou.”

Marlene hung up. There was a second of silence before Sirius erupted into laughter so loud James couldn’t remember his name. Marlene patted James on the shoulder sympathetically.

“You’ll need to sort this out before you meet her.”

“Meet - meet her?”

“At the BAFTAs, you bint.”

“Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit.”

“James, you’re paid to control your emotions, and I’ve heard you’re quite good. You’ve got this.”

* * *

 

“Sirius, what are you wearing to the BAFTAs? I can’t dress myself, I’m straight.”

“You shouldn’t put yourself in a box like that.”

James hung up and stared dejectedly into his closet. Nothing in there was good enough for an awards show, let alone one where he was nominated. He groaned as he slid down the wall. He scrolled through his contacts list, looking for someone who might actually be able to help him.

“Yes, James?”

“Remus, I’m almost positive someone is supposed to dress me for this thing.”

“Did your mother never teach you how to zip your trousers?”

“You’re dead funny Remus. Get your jokes from Sirius, do you?”

James heard muffled sniggers and hung up the phone for the second time in two minutes in a fit of frustration.

“Bollocks.”

He scrolled again. He tapped on Marlene’s contact in a last ditch attempt, even though she’d already said no.

“Marlene, please. You’re the only hope I have of not looking like an utter moron. I am _begging_ you.”

“Fine! Fine. Give me an hour and I’ll be there with some options. But you owe me.”

“Thank god, I’ll give you my first born, anything you want.”

“Keep the dramatics for when you’re on set, James.”

When she hung up James pumped his fist into the air with excitement. He took Marlene’s advice and pulled himself up off the floor and into the shower. The heat of the water on his back acted as a massage. He hadn’t realised just how long he had stood there until his phone started buzzing. He jumped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his lower half, forgoing drying in his haste to answer.

“Hello?”

“James, it’s me, I’m downstairs with a rack of options let me in.”

“You know what an intercom system is, right?”

“Do you really think I’m that daft? I tried that already. Let me in!”

James laughed as he buzzed her in. He heard the door open just before the dial tones in his ear. It was then that he remembered he was only wearing a towel. He only just managed to pull on underwear and a pair of trousers before Marlene was banging on his door.

“Okay, okay.”

James opened the door to a flustered Marlene and a long rack with more hangers than he thought there ought to be for one person. He had to jump out of the way of as she pushed it through the door and into his living room.

“By all means, don’t feel the need to dress up for me.”

James rolled his eyes and joined her. “Where do we start?”

Over the course of three hours, James tried on suit after suit after suit. He was amazed at just how many variations of the same piece of clothing there could be. Together, they wound it down to two options; a classic, _Yves Saint Laurent_ single-breasted black suit paired with a white dress shirt; and a tartan patterned _Gucci_ option. Marlene had assured him several times that he could pull it off, but he was still hesitant. He found his phone on the kitchen bench and snapped a picture of both options before opening twitter.

_@JamesPotter: how can it take over 3 hours to decide on a suit? Help a lad out!_

He attached the to pictures to the tweet and scrolled through some of the replies.

“You’re going to listen to the internet and not me, the person who gets paid to have style?”

James looked up from his phone. “Yup.”

Marlene grumbled as she made herself comfortable on his lounge and he grinned at having successfully annoyed her. He made to join her and sit on one of his arm chairs, when his phone buzzed in his hand with a notification across the bottom of the screen.

_@LilyEvans replied to your tweet!_

James tripped - on what he would never admit (nothing) - landed on his ass, and slid across the floorboards and into the lounge Marlene sat on. Her head popped over the back of the lounge.

“How on earth?”

“Lily,” was all James could get out.

Marlene cackled and it was exactly what James thought an evil hag’s laugh would sound like. He heard her take a photo on her phone, and felt the vibration of a notification from his phone again.

_@MarleneAndMe: @JamesPotter fell on his ass because of your tweet lils @LilyEvans_

“You didn’t.”

“Oh, but I did,” It was Marlene’s turn to grin.

James picked himself up for the second time that day, rubbing his left cheek as he did so. He walked over to the freezer and pulled out a bag of frozen peas.

“You’re not serious.”

“No, that’s my best mate.”

“How many times are you going to use that?”

“Until it stops being funny.”

He stuffed the bag in his trousers and sat on on the arm chair.

“Trust me on this, you’ll want to wear the Gucci.”

“Why should I trust you after the stunt you just pulled?”

“Touche. But when it comes to matters of style, I would never betray you.”

Marlene stood and gathered up the discarded outfits, hanging them back up and wheeling them all to the door. She left the tartan suit on his bench in a garment bag.

“I think you’ve been hanging around actors too long, the drama is starting to rub off.”

She walked out his door giving him the finger.

* * *

 

“James! James, over here!”

“James, are you excited for tonight?”

“What do you think your chances are of winning?”

James had no idea where to look. He hoped he didn’t look cross eyed in any of the thousands of pictures being taken. Sirius and Remus were walking down the red carpet hand in hand a couple of metres ahead of him. He was hoping to walk with them, but the staff on the carpet had insisted he wak by himself. He looked around him for some guidance; should he stop and chat, who should he chat to, how did he pose? He was completely unprepared for this. He made eye contact with one of the reporters to his left, and with a deep breath he walked over to them for his first red carpet interview.

“James! Hi, thanks so much for coming over to say hi,” the reporter said into a large microphone.

He couldn’t make out the company they were from with the hand half covering the stem.

“Er hi, great to be here,” he said.

He plastered a smile on his face to mask his nerves.

“How does it feel to be nominated for your first BAFTA?”

“It’s dead exciting. I don’t really think I’ll win, though, there’s so many great actors in the same category as me.”

And it was true. James was just honoured to be nominated. He hadn’t even thought about writing an acceptance speech, he was so sure he wouldn’t be winning. And it didn’t bother him in the slightest. Someone he didn’t recognise was tugging on his right arm to keep him moving. He thanked the interviewer and moved onto another closer to the entrance.

“Hi James, you’re looking dashing tonight. Who are you wearing?”

“It’s Gucci. I wasn’t sure if I could pull it off but my stylist, Marlene, insisted on it. What do you think?”

He gave the interviewer a twirl, laughing as he did so. He caught Sirius’s eye as he did so. He was covering a snigger with one hand, and holding Remus’s with the other. His eyes moved to something behind James. Curious, he turned to see what had grabbed his friend’s attention and nearly had the wind knocked out of him. Lily Evans was walking down the carpet in a glittering, silver gown with a plunging neckline. Her usually crimson curls hair were straight and sleek. She was the most beautiful he had ever seen her.

“No fucking way,” he said under his breath.

He had completely forgotten where he was and who he was talking to.

“James? Are you alright?”

The interviewer brought him back to reality. He cleared his throat.

“Er-”

But Lily was walking towards him then, she had caught his eye as he did so he was sure of it. She was smiling radiantly at him. At _him_.

“James! Hi, I wanted to come over and wish you good luck.”

She was holding onto his arm. He might not wash that arm ever again. The interviewer, the cameraman and now Lily were all looking at him expectantly.

“I-er, thanks a bunch, Lily. That means alot coming from you. And good luck to you too, but I’m sure you don’t need it.”

He was surprised at how eloquent he sounded. Lily’s eyes crinkled with her smile, and she hit him playfully on the arm she was holding onto.

“Flattery will get you everywhere.”

“Isn’t it nowhere?”

She winked at him and walked closer to the entrance where the awards were being held. He stared after, watching as she stopped to chat to other interviewers. Something bigger than butterflies was jumping around in his stomach, possibly elephants.

“Are the rumours true, about you and Lily?”

“What?” he snapped back to reality again.

“Are you dating Lily Evans?”

* * *

 

James was guided to his seat in a daze, and was happy to find he was sat with Sirius, Remus and a bunch of other people who worked on _Have You Ever_. He took a swig of the champagne in front of him to calm the adrenaline or everything that had just happened.

“Check twitter,” Sirius said.

“Why?”

“Just do it, you git.”

James dug his phone out of his suit jacket.

“Am I going to like what I-”

“Oh my god, here.”

Sirius shoved his own phone into James’s face. James skimmed through the words on the screen.

“I don’t get it. Why are limes trending?”

“Limes is you and Lily. L-I for Lily, M-E-S for you.”

“Oh my god.”

“Did you see the video? Show him the video, Sirius.”

Remus was grinning at him from the other side of Sirius. James downed the rest of his champagne before he could look. The video Sirius had pulled up was of him from tonight. It looked like it was the second person he’d spoken to, he remembered the twirl. The video showed the moment he saw Lily. He wanted to look away but he couldn’t; the lovesick look on his face was enough to embarrass him to death. But then there were the questions that came after the wink. James couldn’t take it anymore, and handed Sirius back his phone.

“That… was embarrassing. Thanks for sharing.”

Sirius and Remus were both grinning at him. A replacement champagne flute was placed in front of James. He gulped down another sip but the elephants in his stomach were still stomping around.

It seemed in the time it took him to get caught up everyone had found their seat and the awards show was ready to begin. At least he wouldn’t have to wait too long to find out who won in his category. He was struggling to pay attention to much of what was going on, especially now that dinner had been served. He took extra care to make sure he didn’t spill anything on himself, especially because he didn’t pay for the suit he was wearing and definitely didn’t want to. He was in the middle of swallowing a large bite from a plate of short ribs when the announcers for his nominated category walked onto the stage.

“Shit,” James whispered.

He searched frantically for a napkin to wipe his fingers and chin clean from the sauce. Sirius threw his own at James and helped him make sure he was clean.

“Thanks mate.”

“Can’t have you representing the show with sauce on your chin, how would that look?”

James rolled his eyes, but he was appreciative all the same. The announcers went through the nominees, and there was a short clip of him in character up on the screen. There was a camera on him then, and he could see his giant head behind the announcers on stage. The other nominees were there as well, all with similar looks on their faces.

“And the winner is…”

The announcers opened up the envelope slower than he thought it was even possible to do so.

“James Potter for _Have You Ever_!”

James nearly fell off his chair. The whole table was standing and cheering. Sirius and Remus squeezed him so hard there was no air in his lungs. He floated up to the stage somehow; it felt more like an out of body experience. He managed to walk up the stairs without seriously injuring himself, and then a BAFTA was being pushed into his hands. He stood in front of the microphone and looked out at the crowd. The light were blinding, but he could see Remus and Sirius at their table close to the front, their smiles giving him the confidence boost he needed to make some sort of speech.

“I really didn’t think I’d be up here tonight so apologies for the shit speech you’re about to witness.”

The audience laughed. He could feel his legs again.

“I’m only good at speaking when someone else has written it for me, as anyone who knows me can tell you. Er, there’s a lot of people I should thank for this, and of course none of their names are coming to mind. Always the way, isn’t it. Oh yeah, thanks to the academy for the award. I probably won’t be winning another one after this shit show of a speech. Cheers!”

He walked off to laughter and applause in his ears and adrenalin still coursing through his veins. He vowed to always be prepared for a speech in future.

* * *

 

The building was shaking with the vibrations from the speakers, and James could feel the bass thumping through his body. The dance floor was a crowded mass of sweaty bodies. James was squished between Sirius and someone he didn’t recognise, jumping and yelling along with the music. He had no idea what song was playing but he loved it. His throat was hoarse from yelling all night, and Sirius had the bright idea of leaving the dance floor for the bar.

Sirius dragged him through the crowd into the open the air around the dance floor. Except he was distracted by Remus, who was sat at a booth chatting away to none other than Lily Evans. Sirius, with his hand still wrapped tightly around James’s wrist, pulled them both over to the table. James hadn’t realised how much his feet were hurting until he was sat down.

“Sirius! James!” Remus said, a bit too loudly and full of excitement.

James barely heard him though, with Lily smiling at him across the table. Sirius pushed a whiskey and coke into his hand and he was reminded of how parched he was.

“Congrats on your BAFTA, yeah? Well deserved, James!” Lily shouted at him over the music.

“You’re one to talk! What was that tonight, you’re third one in a row? Have you lost an award you’ve been nominated for?”

Her cheeks were pink, and he wasn’t sure what it was from but in his inebriated state he liked to think it was because of him. She stood from the booth and his heart sank until he realised she was moving to sit next to him instead.

“I’m tired of yelling over the music.”

Her body was pressed against the right side of his; from his shoulder to his knee suddenly felt red hot where she was touching him. He could smell the perfume on her neck, something spicy and completely intoxicating. More so than anything he had drank over the course of the evening. She leaned even closer to talk to him in his ear, and the heat of her breath on his neck sent shivers down his spine.

“You looked well fit in your suit earlier.”

James’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.

“Me? I nearly fell over when I saw you were walking towards me on the carpet.”

“Oh I know, I saw the video.”

She wasn’t outright laughing at him, but it was there in her eyes.

“Sod off, I know I looked like a git. But can you blame me?”

She laughing at him proper now, with her nose scrunched and her head tossed back. His free hand moved to the back of his head and ruffled his hair nervously. Lily stopped laughing at him and took a sip of her own drink. She moved the hand closest to him up to his hair and brushed some of the curls off his forehead. Everywhere she touched felt like he’d been zapped. Her lips parted slightly, his eyes drawn into the small movement. A camera flashed to the right and the spell was broken. Lily jumped in surprise. James looked up just in time to see a photography with a sly smile walk off into the crowd.

“I am not looking forward to seeing that picture tomorrow.”

“Why’s that?”

“I probably look a right tit with my hand in your hair, like.”

“I dunno, I quite enjoyed it.”

“Yeah?”

Her hand was back in his hair again then. She was so close to him she was almost sat in his lap. She had swung her legs across his lap under the table and moved her free hand to rest on his thigh. James was getting dizzy with the overstimulation to all his senses. She moved the hand in his hair down the side of his face to cup his jaw. He leaned down, hoping he wasn’t being too presumptuous. His eyes were closed when her lips met his own. It was a soft, hesitant kiss at first; until she nibbled on his bottom lip and he threw all caution to the wind. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. He brushed the tip of his tongue against her lips, almost begging for her to let him in. She parted her lips for him and he saw stars. Everywhere she was touching him was searing hot.

“James. James! You stupid git!”

James was pulled back to reality by Sirius’s dulcet tones in his ear. Lily was half straddled on his lap, which made it a struggle for him to pull away and turn to him.

“Can’t you see I’m busy?”

Lily’s hands were still caressing his face and his hands similarly were around her waist.

“I’m only suggesting that you go get a hotel, instead of giving the entire after party burlesque entertainment.”

James was glad in that moment for the darkness of the room for hiding the blush on his skin, though he was sure Lily would be able to feel it rise on his cheeks. He took Sirius up on his suggestion, and took Lily’s hand as they made their way to the back exit.

* * *

 

James woke the next morning and slowly took in his surroundings. He was in the bed of an unfamiliar hotel room, with an unfamiliar hand splayed across his chest. He followed the arm to the head on the other pillow. Her hair was fanned out on the pillow, the red in stark contrast with the white of the pillow beneath it. Memories of the night before came flooding back to him. He checked under the covers quickly to find he was completely naked. His cheeks flushed, shy about his nudity in her presence now that he was sober. She stirred beside him, one of her eyes opening to reveal a brilliant green.

“Morning,” he said, voice gravelly with sleep.

She closed her eye again and burrowed into his side, hooking her leg over his left. He curled his arm around her again, relishing in her closeness. His hand rested in the curve of her back, and her head in the nook between his neck and shoulder. If he wanted to wax poetic, he would have said they fit together perfectly like the missing pieces of a puzzle. She placed a soft kiss on his exposed skin that left him tingling.

“Morning,” she finally said.

“Are you hungry?”

“I don’t want to get out of bed.”

“I’ll let you in on a little secret that’s changed my life: room service.”

She nudged his chin with his head.

“Leave me alone, I’m still sleeping.”

He snorted at that. His free hand felt around on the nightstand for the hotel phone. He had no idea what number to press for room service, so he pressed the button for reception and ordered several bacon sandwiches to be brought up.

“Did I hear bacon sandwiches?”

“Yes for me, not for you.”

“Are you sure there’s nothing I can do to convince you otherwise?”

Her hand was sliding down his naked torso.

“I can think of a few things.”

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr under the same user @wotcherpotter :)


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